Family Settles Lawsuit Filed Over Injuries at School

The parents of a girl whose skull was fractured by a steel beam that crashed through her classroom ceiling have reached a settlement in their lawsuit against two construction companies and the Troy, Missouri school district. The terms of the settlement are confidential. The lawsuit was filed in Lincoln County on behalf of the child, who was injured in the 2006 incident at an elementary school in Moscow Mills, Missouri. In addition to the school district and four administrators, the suit named Demien Construction Co. and Big Boy’s Steel Erection.

The suit alleged that the companies were told not to work in areas occupied by students. It was contended that work on the classroom’s roof and ceiling caused a dangerous condition. After she was injured, the child was airlifted to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis, where surgeons used metal plates to help her skull heal. The family moved to Arizona after a doctor’s suggested that the dry, warm climate might ease the headaches the child was experiencing. Apparently, the move has helped, since she appears now to have no permanent disability or problems.